Hi friends,<br>our Fall/Winter Talks schedule concludes over the next
two Wednesday nights at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission at 9th, at 8 p.m. <br><br>First, TONIGHT (I assume you're reading this
Wednesday morning) is our Green City panel:<br><br><h4> February 28: The Green City
</h4>
<p> Integrating urban life with local nature, biodiversity,
and resources is the challenge of our time. New and veteran
activists share visions, strategies, and how they are laying
the foundation for a truly Green City. (Peter Berg —
Green City Project/Planet Drum, Peter Brastow—Nature
in the City, Bonnie Sherk — A Living Library, Brian Holland--Bay Localize).</p><br><p>Then, next week, March 7, is <br></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"> March 7: Learnin' + Teachin'
— The Future of Education</h4><div style="text-align: left;">
</div><p style="text-align: left;"> In decaying and resource-starved public
schools, teachers and staffers with incredible vision and
energy are trying to make education work. But what do we
want from education now? Should it be organized around children
spending mandatory time in classrooms or should we take
a hint from the burgeoning homeschooling movement and look
toward other models? Let's challenge our assumptions
in this open-ended discussion. (Lisa Schiff, Will Grant,
Karen Allen, Ken Tray)</p><font size="4">Due
to a 3-week run of Jess Curtis/Gravity's US Premiere of "Under the
Radar" at CounterPULSE the Talks will be on a short hiatus until April
11. Then we have an abbreviated schedule of Spring Talks, two each in
April and May:
</font><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday, April 11</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">When the Mission was Low and Slow</span><br><br>Join
a special screening and talk by members of the Mission Archives on
April 11, 8 pm, at CounterPULSE. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s
Mission Street was famously the home to a wild scene of lowriders every
weekend. Bouncing, shimmying, and gleaming cars full of excited kids
and long-time Missionistas would sometimes stretch along Mission from
16th all the way out to Geneva and back again. A unique public space
erupted every week for several years in the face of police harassment,
created and maintained by the ever resourceful youth of Latino San
Francisco. Join original participants, filmmakers and today's young
activists with rarely seen footage, a trailer from a new documentary,
"Why We Ride: From Low to Show," shares the stories about the unique
culture of the lowrider movement in San Francisco Mission District and
the silencing of that culture by the police. We'll also discuss the
changing nature of youth culture, street life, public space, and life
in San Francisco's Mission District.
<br><br>The event is free, but donations $5-$50 are requested to help
both CounterPULSE, the evening's host, and the Mission
Archives/Conscious Youth Media Crew, who are providing facilities and
video training for local youth.
<br><br><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday, April 25</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The National Park Where We Live</span><br><br>Amy
Meyer is essentially the "godmother" of the Golden Gate National
Recreation Area (GGNRA). If not for the heroic efforts of Amy and other
environmental activists, we might not have a GGNRA today. Amy has
written a book entitled, "New Guardians for the Golden Gate: How
America Got a Great National Park," in which she and her co-author,
Randy Delehanty, provide exquisite details of the social and political
context for the creation of our local urban ecological jewel, which is
internationally important. Join us for a typical Counterpulse evening,
during which Amy reveals the politics of national park conservation.
</p><p><br></p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday, May 2</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From Enclosures to Industrial Fast-Food:</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">
Immigration and Work and Agriculture....</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><br>Immigration
is as old as history, but major population shifts don't begin until
common lands become enclosed in the late feudal period. Today the
process continues with the replacement of subsistence agriculture in
the global south with agribusiness export crops. Loss of land starts
the movement of populations into cities, eventually leading to
migration across borders too... <br>When people leave home they take their favorite foods with them.
Over the past century waves of immigrants have brought with them many
different kinds of foods to California, which slowly have merged into
components of "California Cuisine"... Ironically--perhaps
tragically--the folks who are immigrants these days very often find
themselves working in the fields for agribusiness (even the newly
organic businesses) OR in the restaurants and hotels of SF, often in
kitchens and food service sector...
<br>We will also have a couple of remarkable video clips: 1)
occupation strike in Paris at a McDonalds by largely African immigrant
workers; 2) scene from Peter Watkins' movie "La Commune" wherein a
group of Algerians sits around a table talking about immigration and
capital--in 1871! Speaking will be Grey Kolevzon, Chris Carlsson and
others TBA...
<br><br><br clear="all"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday, May 30</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Butterflies in the City</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><br>Despite
the revolutionary ecological changes on the San Francisco peninsula
over the last 240 years, the city abounds with spectacular native
biodiversity, including a couple of dozen species of butterflies. Like
many insects, butterfly species have co-evolved with specific plants in
an ecological co-evolutionary dance over millions of years. The
Franciscan bioregion is home to several locally endemic species, such
as the mission blue, which only lives on coastal bedrock ridgetops. A
subset of our native butterflies have adapted to some non-native
plants, including some weeds. Join us for an exhilarating and beautiful
ride through this fascinating subject. Barbara Deutsch, Deirdre
Elmansoumi, Mia Monroe, Liam O'Brien. <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Our half-hour radio shows continue on KUSF, 90.3 FM, every Thursday night at 10:30, thanks to Independent Arts & Media. </span><br><br>
We are starting to plan the <span style="font-weight: bold;">
next Fall/Winter series of Talks</span>
and I'm happy to report that thanks to City Lights Foundation support
we are going to add two new series to our Wednesday nights: on First
Wednesdays will be "Words First" featuring storytellers and their
tales, and Third Wednesdays will feature Art & Politics, each Wed.
in the fall showcasing an individual artist and their work. <span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;"><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br></span></span>If
you have suggestions for topics, speakers, or films to be part of the
Fall/Winter 07-08 series, NOW IS THE TIME TO SEND THEM IN!...
</span> thanks!<br><br>--Chris<br><span class="sg"><br></span><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>All my mail is going through this gmail account now. <br><a href="http://www.chriscarlsson.com">www.chriscarlsson.com</a><br>My blog:
<a href="http://www.lipmagazine.org/ccarlsson">www.lipmagazine.org/ccarlsson</a><br>Fall/Winter Talks: <a href="http://www.counterpulse.org/fall-winter-talks.shtml">http://www.counterpulse.org/fall-winter-talks.shtml</a><br>
<a href="http://www.shapingsf.org">www.shapingsf.org</a><br><a href="http://www.processedworld.com">www.processedworld.com</a><br><a href="http://www.fullenjoymentbooks.com">www.fullenjoymentbooks.com</a>